Note: Travis Lulay was a star quarterback at Montana State and just completed his 14th season of professional football, the last 10 with the B.C. Lions in the Canadian Football League. He was a four-year starter at MSU from 2002-05, leading the Cats to three victories in four tries over the Montana Grizzlies. He passed for more than 10,000 yards and rushed for more than 1,000 in his college career, and the Oregon native has been quite successful in Canada as well. In 2011, Travis was the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player as well as the MVP of the Grey Cup. Travis, his wife Kim and three daughters, aged 6, 4, and 2, live in Blaine, Wash., which is where Scott Mansch caught up with him this week for our Sunday Conversation.

Q: Nice to talk to you, Travis.

A: Thanks, Scott. How are you, my friend?

Q: I’m good, real good. Thank you. What are you doing right now?

A: I’m with my six-year-old daughter at her ballet class (laughs). So I just sit off to the side as she does her little class.

Q: Well, I don’t remember you with any ballet moves when you were rambling over all those Bobcat foes back in the day.

A: (laughs) No, that was a different form of art.

Q: How are you feeling, Kid? Doing OK?

A: I’m feeling pretty good. You know, I’m still standing after another season in the books. I did get hurt a little this year. I banged up my other shoulder. Last year I blew up my knee at the end of the year and that thing kind of bothered me all season long. But, in the grand scheme of things, I’m feeling relatively good. So that’s where I’m at.

Q: You had some fine moments this season (he started 12 games for the Lions and passed for 2,494 yards and 13 scores, including a four-touchdown effort in a 42-32 victory over Edmonton on Oct. 19 that sent B.C. to the playoffs).

A: Thank you. Yes, I did. It’s hard in the immediate aftermath, because we got beat up in the playoffs (losing 48-8 to Hamilton on Nov. 11), but we definitely had some good moments. We had a lot of turnover, with a new GM. For us to earn a playoff spot, winning in Calgary and beating Edmonton at home a couple of times, yes, we had some big moments and big wins. Personally, I overcame a few hurdles, coming back from injury and all that stuff, so yes, some good moments.

Q: You’ve had such a fantastic career up there. Congratulations on that. You’re 35 now and I’m wondering, can you play a few more years?

A: I don’t know. I genuinely say this at the end of every year. The season is just so long in the CFL, with 18-game regular seasons. Emotionally and physically you’re so exhausted at the end of the season, so it just takes a little bit of time to see if I have the energy to try to get up and do it again. That’s kind of where I’m at, so we’ll see. I haven’t discounted playing again next year, but I’m the oldest guy in the locker room and have been for two seasons now (laughs). That’s kind of a funny feeling. Gives me a little perspective on how quickly time goes by.

Travis Lulay just completed his 10th season with the B.C. Lions of the Candian Football League.(Photo: Submitted by Travis Lulay)

Q: Man, it seems like yesterday when you were a freshman for the Bobcats and coach Mike Kramer decided you were going to be the starter (he threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns in a midseason, 18-14 loss to Idaho State in 2002 and that season led MSU to a victory over the Griz and a berth in the national playoffs).

A: It does to me, too. It certainly has gone fast. It’s been a fun ride.

Q: Handicap the Grey Cup for me a little bit, Travis (Calgary meets Ottawa on Sunday, Nov. 25, at 4 p.m. on ESPN2). You know David Dickenson is our guy from Great Falls and coaching the Calgary Stampeders, who are in the Grey Cup for the third year in a row. What’s going to happen on Sunday?

A: Calgary obviously has been a perennial power up here for a number of years and with Dave taking the reins they’ve stayed on course. But they haven’t won the big one, right? (This is Dickenson’s third season as Calgary head coach; the Stampeders have finished runner-up in the CFL the last two years) You know, Dave is a really competitive guy and he feels you get validated by championships. There’s going to be some pressure on those guys in Calgary, but there’s also going to be an extreme sense of urgency knowing that they want to capitalize on this run of really good teams. They want to find a way to win a championship. It’s a little funny, because the last couple of years Calgary has come in just high-flying, high-powered and easily the best team in the league. This year, they were the best team for the first half of the season, but the back half they struggled a little bit and had a lot of injuries. They lost three games in the second half and then just kind of snuck by Winnipeg in the playoffs this past weekend (22-14). So they’re not riding the same kind of high into the Grey Cup week, but that might work in their favor. I just have a hard time believing Calgary is going to lose three in a row in the big one so I bet they’re going to find a way to get over the hump.

Q: You know Dave real well. What do you think makes him a special coach?

A: I think for one, Dave is just a really good competitor. You can tell. On the sidelines he’s very animated, running up and down. He’s emotionally involved. I’ve never worked side-by-side with Dave, but obviously we’ve crossed paths a lot of times. He’s got a really good football mind. He does a lot with their offense and has a really good grasp of calling a game from a quarterback’s perspective. He’s got Bo Levi Mitchell, who won a national championship at Eastern Washington. So Bo’s a talented guy. The combination of Dave and Bo working together for a number of years in the same offensive system, they just have such a good feel for each other. Once you get on the same page with the play-caller, the quarterback can play at a really high level. I think Bo’s had another outstanding season, and Dave has a lot to do with it. Dave’s really good at designing the offense, communicating with the quarterback and he’s a guy players can relate to. He’s relatively younger in the coaching world and I think the guys respond well to him.

The family of Travis and Kim Lulay includes daughters. The former Montana State star lives in Blaine, Wash., and just completed his 10th season with the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League.(Photo: Submitted by Travis Lulay)

Q: Could you see yourself following a similar career path as David, and getting into coaching?

A: You know, and I tell people this all the time, I use Dave as an example. But I don’t know. It hasn’t been like my dream forever to be a professional coach, but part of the reason I don’t entirely discount it is because of the story of Dave. People say if you asked him late in his playing career if he’d coach, he would have said no way in the world. And now he’s doing it and he seems to be really enjoying it and had such great success. I’ve actually meant to have that real sit-down with him at some point and ask him ‘Dave, what was it that got you into coaching?’ And see if there’s any similarities and if that’s something I’m interested in. There would be a lot about coaching that I’d love, and a lot that’s tough about it, like the time commitment, the stress of the job and the uncertainty of planning your future. So there’s a lot to weigh there. But I’ve been in football for so long that definitely there’s part of the coaching that intrigues me.

Q: I’m sure you’re still following football down here. The Bobcats had a big win last Saturday over the Grizzlies.

A: It was amazing (laughs). Yes, of course, I was watching. A few friends and family members had bought little Bobcat No. 14 jerseys, from back when I was playing there. And when their kids grew out of them they gave them to me as mementos. So I’ve had them and now they fit my little girls. They were wearing those little 14 jerseys and watching the game with me (laughs).

Q: The last few moments were kind of dramatic.

A: Oh my gosh, on that last drive I was like, score already and put us out of our misery. I was on the phone with my buddy Zach Wolf, my old roommate (former Bobcat center) and his TV reception was a little ahead of me and he started chuckling. I was like, what is he laughing about? And then boom, on my screen came the fumble (laughs). We were joking about it because we were both waking up our little kids during nap time and celebrating the Bobcats' win. It was pretty dang exciting.

Q: I remember Zach. He’s related to Mike Kramer, right?

A: That’s right. Coach Kramer’s nephew. His older brother Blake was a tight end and Zach was in my class and was my roommate most of the time.

Q: Well, Travis, what a quarterback the Bobcats have now. What would you say about Troy Andersen?

A: You know, the first time I ever really heard him speak was in that postgame interview in Missoula and he sounds like just a humble kid with a good head on his shoulders. You can tell the coaches trust him like crazy because he played tailback as a freshman and then they move him to quarterback. Obviously he’s got a great head on his shoulders to be able to handle that. He’s tough as nails, man, and a freak athlete. He’s fast and he’s tough. You can tell he’s banged up. He’s got a little knee brace on and he had a cast earlier in the year. You can tell, he’s all heart, man. He plays really well and it’s fun to watch him play. He’s obviously a different style than a lot of quarterbacks who have been in the Big Sky over the years. But I don’t care how you get it done, if you can find a way to get it done I’m all about it. He’s certainly fun to watch. When he gets on the edge, it’s pretty dang exciting. Because no one’s catching him.

Q: I’m not going to say he’s better than you, Travis. I mean you were like Carson Wentz in my opinion. But this Troy Andersen is something. One of the fastest guys the Cats have had. Plus he’s a leader and he’s soft-spoken, too, which I like about him.

A: Yes. He seems to have a really good demeanor about him. His body language is good, even when the Bobcats were down. I look for that kind of stuff. When the Cats were down 22-to-nothing in the first half and he skips a throw and it’s kind of looking like the sidelines are down, and he still seems upbeat, I noticed that. You know, that body language goes a long way toward leadership. Without knowing him, you can tell he’s wired the right way to be in a position of leadership. That’s a cool thing to see from afar and I’m sure his teammates feel it from within.

A: You bet. You could feel the energy through the TV. Even on the sidelines. As much I love to see the Cats win, you could feel the heartbreak from the Montana side. It just means so much to so many people, right? That’s what makes it special. It’s pretty dang cool.

Q: It’s sure great to visit with you, Travis. I wish your family all the best.

A: Thanks, Scott. We had a lot of conversations over the years. It’s always good to talk to you.

Scott Mansch’s Sunday Conversations appear regularly. He can be reached 791-1481 or smansch@greatfallstribune.com